Last month Sinjin Hawke put out this EP and it’s great. Not because every song sounds perfect, but because he’s really pushing things forward. Every song contains so many ideas, it’s often overwhelming. Take my favourite track, Crystal Dust. On the one side you have Hudson Mohawke brashness with a massive brass loop, and then the other half of the song is silky smooth. And this isn’t just head-scratching experimentation for geeks, as shown by the ridiculous track which comes straight after, The Ballad Of Martyn Bootyspoon. Despite it’s flaws, this EP shows a lot of talent, and I can’t wait to see where he goes with it.

For those of you who are new to the site, this is a list of my favourite dance music from the last year. It’s not exclusively remixes, and yes, you can argue you could dance to the songs in the Top Tracks list too.

1. Out in the Streets - Africa HiTech
2. The Look (Koreless remix) - Jacques Greene
3. Surph - Rustie
4. Sketch - Synkro
5. Sicko Cell - Joy Orbison
6. Rolling In The Deep (Jamie xx Shuffle) - Adele
7. Battle for Middle You - Julio Bashmore
8. U Don’t Survive - Machinedrum
9. I’m New Here - Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx
10. Getting Me Down - Blawan
11. Ragysh - Todd Terje
12. Buoyancy - A1 Bassline
13. mas - Lucy
14. Dark Details - Andy Stott
15. Far Nearer - Jamie xx
16. Start From the Beginning - Egyptrixx
17. After Light - Rustie
18. Monday - SCNTST
19. Ordinary Things - XxXy
20. Brunk - Randomer
21. It’s a Crime (Caribou mix) - Virgo Four
22. Youandme (On My Mind) – Youandewan
23. Helter Skelter - Kahn
24. Dance Til the Police Come - Peverelist
25. Armed 3 - Tommy Four Seven

1. The Wilhelm Scream – James Blake
2. Otis (feat. Otis Redding) - Jay-Z & Kanye West
3. I’m On One (Shlohmo Remix) – DJ Khaled featuring Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne
4. Dat Ass – Earl Sweatshirt
5. The Look – Metronomy
6. Baby’s Arms -  Kurt Vile
7. Hard In Tha Paint (Shlohmo’s sit down remix) – Wacka Flocka Flame
8. Montezuma – Fleet Foxes
9. Blush Mosaic – Patten
10. Little Man – Little Dragon
11. Bloom – Radiohead
12. Why Is It So Hard? – Charles Bradley
13. Niggas in Paris – Jay-Z & Kanye West
14. Loavhorts - Knxwledge
15. Archway (Teebs remix) - Flying Lotus
16. Space Is Only Noise If You Can See - Nicolas Jaar
17. Little Window - Ducktails
18. Just Us - Shlohmo
19. Sketch 7 - Tim Hecker
20. Black Night - The Dodos
21. Keep - Nils Frahm
22. The Hold Up - Ikebe Shakedown
23. Kammermusik – Bugge Wesseltoft & Henrik Schwarz
24. Goldene Kugel - Siriusmo
25. Park ( Tape Version ) - D33J
26. Softgram (Appleyard Soft Remix) - DZA
27. Michicant - Bon Iver
28. Honey Bunny - Girls
29. Los Angeles Is Beautiful - MatthewDavid
30. Sequel - Mountains
31. I’m Getting Ready - Michael Kiwanuka
32. Not A Word - Dam Mantle
33. Locked Up - Big Deal
34. Ice Cream - Battles feat. Matias Aguayo
35. Yellow More New - Teebs
36. Witch Hunt - Zomby
37. Wake Bake Skate - Fidlar
38. Peso (Prod. By ASAP Ty Beats) - ASAP Rocky
39. Capricornus - Austin Peralta
40. Biddies (Truth Is Light edit) - Mo Kolours
41. Pretty Boy Swag (Shlohmo Remix) - Soulja Boy
42. Hey Kids - Ta-ku
43. [I] Softly, We Go.. - Evenings
44. Raconte-moi une Histoire - M83
45. Harrier ATTK - Actress
46. Saint Christopher - Bibio
47. La Bamba (Mexicans with Guns remix) - Ritchie Valens
48. a coney island (of the mind) - ages
49. Little Cup - Thao & Mirah
50. Wait and See – Holy Ghost!

1

It wasn’t until I went back through my albums that I truly realized how much I adored this album. I could pick out nearly every song as my favorite, and as a whole it feels like a true story, even that weird free jazz bit that everyone complains about. Fleet Foxes create pure sonic bliss.

2

As someone who had invested a serious amount of google time in 2010 obsessing over this young UK talent, when I finally got to hear the record, James Blake had some seriously high expectations to deal with, on my part. And he managed to meet them. The album was a collection of great songs, to argue it was all about the genre he was heralded as bringing to the mainstream is wrong. He took snippets of all his past experiments; bass anthems, ambience made up of mp3 hiss, gospel’s groove and more, and made proper songs out of them, which very few people manage to achieve this year.

3

Shlohmo was the other artist on this list that consumed so much of my research time, waiting for his innumerable amount of remixes to drop, which gave me a new found appreciation for pop rap. Though hip-hop is ingrained in the groove of the album, just as it is with anything in the beat community, Shlohmo’s sound is far too unique to simply throw him away based on that conclusion. Reverb-drenched vocals, heavy bass and woozy synths create this introspective feel to the album. Rightly so, as Shlohmo recorded this by himself for 6 months, and the album feels almost like the music of someone slowly falling apart, both in its lazy rhythm and the slow descent into the noisy second half of the album.

4

Machinedrum probably went and created the best thing to come out of Juke’s explosion onto the bass scene. Not only that, but I could also play this to any non-electronic fan and get them dancing and singing to every vocal hook.

5

All of the albums on the lists have a unique sound, often taking you to another world in their journey. Patten takes it to an extreme; GLAQJO XAACSSO is a completely different universe. No other album on this list surprised me every time I delved back in. On the surface, the album feels chaotic, but if you delve just a little further you realize how amazing this album truly is. A mixture of sampled field recordings, chopped vocals and guitars that don’t sound like guitars, it’s hard to pick out one instrument or sound that is driving the album, because there isn’t. For this reason GLAQJO XAACSSO is incredibly textural, but still has those great melodies buried somewhere in the haze of sound, playing to your subconscious ear.

6

Little Dragon‘s albums are getting better and better, as both the songwriting and production prowereess increase in quality. I’m astonished at how unique and interesting they can make pop music, without alienating non-music geeks.

7

Nicolas Jaar seemed to blow away everyone’s expectations this year. He showed everyone how to make a proper solo album, one which straddled many genre lines, but refused to cross any of them. An intrisic pulse and a consistent sound, despite drawing samples from Indian recordings to gospel music, had this album on constant rotation for me this year.

8

Despite it’s quite minimal approach to songwriting, Jamie xx really has a sense of perfection which shines through, as pretty much every song is completely fantastic. Not only that, but despite all this, one really can feel that this is a collaboration, not just a collection of remixes. A proper album, with Jamie xx providing the instrumentals and Gil adding his unique voice.

9

Siriusmo‘s debut had a lot to live up to because he’s already been releasing music for over a decade. I’m not sure how those who have been following his career since the very beginning would feel, but I know I found this a fun and well crafted album. He managed to apply what he did before; well-humoured, unqiue sounding and catchy tracks and twist it into the album format, rataining all that Siriusmoness that we love him for. Despite being the only album on the list with tracks I really didn’t like, the good stuff (most of it), is enough to bring it out of those troubled lows.

10

As with many a great album, the cover reflects the music. Ducktails creates feel good indie vibes, but with all the devious experimentation of a rock musician who has finally been freed from the limitations of bandmates. When you’re finished with this album you will feel like you’ve just woken up, in a good way.

Seriously. Every time. Shlohmo is just on the top of his game at the moment. I can’t think of another producer right now, who’s every remix is an instant classic. Anyway, this time he’s taken on Lianne La Havas, who has a stunning voice, which I think is amplified by Shlohmo’s production. All he needed is a bit more jazz guitar. This week, I’ll be posting my top albums and tracks of 2010, and they’ll be a lot more Shlohmo in there as well.

Download here

One of my infatuations this year was techno, in all it’s forms. Whether it’s lo-fi broken kicks, or the ultra pristine snares you find on Kompakt, or the hectic glitched percussion from 90s Warp artists. I’m not the only one who saw this genre become popular, and I’m expecting a lot of great examples next year too. Anyway, one of the techno albums that got released this year is Simulat, from Cosmin TRG. He has a great reputation of doing whatever he wants and shifting genres from release to release, with his debut not quite being techno, but close enough. Enjoy my favourite track from the record.

Lillasyster

With the rest of the album’s tracks being mainly three minutes or shorter, [I] Softly, We Go.. stands out with eight enchanting minutes of ambience, smooth drones and laid-back improvisational percussion.

One of my favourite tracks of the year, easily, is the hectic Out in the Streets. Light the Way is completely different. Though it too is an intensive track, it soothes you, rather than leaving you agitated. You literally feel like you are soaking in the track as it surrounds you with sweeping synths and soft voices, despite the pounding drums relentlessly moving forward.

This month, I am trying to dedicate myself to only listen to 2011 releases in an effort to choose my personal highlights of the year. One of the choices which didn’t make the cut, but is great nevertheless, is the final album by Ponytail. Relentless, overly-enthusiastic and fun, the album plays out just like the cover. So enjoy some crazy rock music.

Flabbermouse

Picking up where James Blake and Fantastic Mr Fox left off, 123Mrk uses sliced vocals, two-step rhythms and some white noise to create a seriously funky EP.

Invisible Colors